معرفی
Susan Park is Professor of Global Governance at the University of Sydney and current Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at the Technical University of Munich Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS), hosted by Prof. Dr. Eugénia da Conceição-Heldt within the China in Global Economic Governance Focus Group. Her work centers on accountability structures in international development institutions with particular expertise in multilateral development banks and global environmental governance frameworks.
Her research examines how state and non-state actors influence international organizations to enhance environmental accountability, currently focusing on governance gaps in renewable energy supply chains and justice mechanisms for communities affected by development projects. Key interests include norm diffusion processes, institutional isomorphism in accountability mechanisms, the political economy of mining in renewable transitions, and the evolving role of China within the development finance architecture. Her methodology combines constructivist approaches with institutional analysis to trace how accountability norms emerge and are contested within global governance systems.
Recent publications analyze transnational activism's role in multilateral development bank grievance mechanisms, the African Development Bank's accountability frameworks, and norm harmonization challenges in China's development finance. Her work reveals persistent 'accountability traps' where procedural mechanisms exist but substantive justice remains elusive, particularly in resource-intensive renewable energy projects.
Selected honors include:
- Sydney Research Accelerator (SOAR) Fellowship (2017-2018)
- Australian Research Council Discovery Project on Multilateral Development Bank Accountability (2014-2018)
- Brown Fellow award (2013)
Professor Park serves as Associate Editor for Global Environmental Politics and co-convenes the Earth Systems Governance Task Force on Accountability in Global Environmental Governance with Dr. Teresa Kramarz. Her ARC-funded research examined how borrower states and civil society navigate accountability mechanisms across Asian, African, and European development banks, revealing strategic avoidance patterns by institutions when confronted with US political pressure.
As TUM-IAS Fellow, she contributes to the China in Global Economic Governance Focus Group examining how Chinese development finance practices interact with established multilateral norms, particularly regarding environmental and social safeguards in infrastructure projects across the Global South.
